The Norwegian economy is dependent largely on the fortunes of its important petroleum industry. Thus, it experienced a decline in the late 1980s as oil prices fell, but by the late 1990s it had rebounded strongly, benefiting from increased production and higher prices. In an effort to reduce economic downturns caused by drops in oil prices, the government in 1990 had established the Government Petroleum Fund (renamed the Government Pension Fund Global in 2006), into which budget surpluses were deposited for investment overseas. Norway reversed its negative balance of payments, and the growth of its gross national product (GNP)—which had slowed during the 1980s—accelerated. By the late 1990s Norway’s per capita GNP was the highest in Scandinavia and among the highest in the world. The Norwegian economy remained robust into the early 21st century, and Norway fared much better than many other industrialized countries during the international financial and economic crisis that began in 2008. Only about one-fifth Nevertheless, foreign demand for non-petroleum-related Norwegian products weakened during that period, and, though not a participant in the single European currency, Norway was not immune to the pressures of the euro-zone debt crisis.

About one-fourth of Norway’s commodity imports are food and consumer goods (including motor vehicles); the rest consists of raw materials, fuels, and capital goods. The rate of reinvestment has been high in Norway for a number of years. This is reflected in the relatively steady employment in the building and construction industry. Rapid growth, however, has been registered in commercial and service occupations, as is the case in most countries with a high standard of living.

Fewer than 5 1 percent of the private businesses and industrial companies in Norway have more than 100 employees. Nonetheless, they account for half more than two-fifths of the private industrial labour forceand for more than half of production. The smaller companies are usually family-owned, whereas most of the larger ones are joint-stock companies. Foreign interests control companies accounting for about 10 percent of total production. Only a few larger concerns are state-owned, and even these are usually run with almost complete independence. However, the government traditionally has had a significant ownership control over major economy sectors, such as oil, telecommunications, power, and transport, but from the end of the 1990s many such companies were partially or fully privatized.most notably Statoil, the state-owned petroleum industry, as well as the railways and the postal service. The state also has large ownership stakes in hydropower stations and electricity plants.

Agriculture, forestry, and fishing

By the beginning of the 21st century, the number of farms of at least 1.25 acres (0.5 hectare) had decreased by more than half of its the 1950 total of more than 200,000. Much of the abandoned acreage was absorbed into the remaining farms. Nevertheless, many farms remain small; about more than half have more than 25 acres (10 hectares) of farmland, while only about 1 percent less than one-tenth have more than 125 acres (50 hectares). Labour for hire is scarce, and most of the work must be done by farmer-owners themselves. Extensive mechanization and fertilization, however, have kept total farm output on the increase. Livestock is the major agricultural product, and, although the country is more than self-sufficient in animal products, it remains dependent on imports for cereal crops.

The agricultural core of the Østlandet region lies in the lowlands extending eastward and southward to the Swedish border. With suitable precipitation during the growing season, the highest July temperatures in Norway, a soil consisting of relatively rich marine deposits, and large nearby markets, the land is intensively cultivated. There are even a number of large, heavily mechanized farms producing cereal grains, which generally do not grow well in such latitudes. Most of the farms, however, are small. To supplement their income from domestic animals, vegetables, and fruits, a number of farmers pursue forestry as a secondary occupation; most of the forests are a part of farm acreages.

In western Norway, Karm Island comprises a notably rich agricultural area. The inland fjord areas of Hardanger are more sheltered, with rich fruit districts specializing in apples and cherries. Trøndelag is Norway’s most typical agricultural region, with flat, fertile land around the wide Trondheim Fjord (Trondheimsfjorden) and the city of Trondheim.

Although less than one-twentieth of Norway’s total area is agricultural land, productive forests constitute more than one-third of the total area. Forestry forms the basis for the wood-processing industry, which accounts for a small but important part of Norway’s total commodity exports, and it is of major importance for the roughly half of all Norwegian farms that are so small that a second major source of income must be found.

Along the coast, fishing plays the same role that forestry does elsewhere. At the same time, it forms the basis of a large fish-processing industry and offers seasonal employment for many farmers. Of all fishermen, only half fish as their sole occupation. Most vessels are owned by the fishermen themselves, the necessary crew members being paid by shares of gross income in a continuation of a centuries-old tradition of the sea. A critical problem is how to avoid depleting the fish resources while maintaining the volume. About half the catch goes into fish meal and oil, but some is processed for human consumption in freezing plantsNorway’s principal seafood products include fresh fish, dried and salted fish, smoked fish, frozen fish fillets, and other processed forms such as marinated and tinned fish. Fish offal is used as feed at mink farms. In the northwest the city of Ålesund thrives on fishing.

By the mid-1990s fish farming had developed over a period of 25 years into the cornerstone of the coastal economy, having created some 15,000 jobs in Norway. Norwegian fish farms are especially renowned for the production of Atlantic cod, Atlantic halibut, and spotted wolffish. The total number of fishermen decreased by about three-fourths from 1950 to the end of the 20th century, and the number of vessels decreased by more than three-fifths over the same period. At the beginning of the 21st century, there were some 10,000 registered fishing vessels in Norway, though only about one-tenth of them were engaged year-round. Most of the remaining boats are small, but large vessels account for more than half much of the catch.

Once a world leader in Antarctic whaling, Norway has since 1968 hunted only smaller species of toothed whales. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Norway complied with the International Whaling Commission’s total ban on commercial whaling. By the mid-1990s, however, the Norwegian government gradually was allowing limited catches of some species, arguing that they were not endangered any longer and that they posed a serious threat to fish populations. The latter argument is also used in defense of sealing. However, both whaling and sealing have declined sharply as a result of low profitability and international criticism.

Resources and power

With an area of more than 386,000 square miles (1,000,000 square km), Norway’s continental shelf is about three times as large as the country’s land area. The rich resources found there were largely responsible for a boundary dispute between Norway and Russia. Negotiations between the two countries began in the mid-1970s and involved competing approaches to the line separating their claims in the Barents Sea. In 2010 the two countries agreed to a boundary that divided the contested area (67,600 square miles [175,000 square km]) into approximately equal sections.

Oil and gas

By the mid-1990s Norway had become the world’s second largest oil exporter (behind Saudi Arabia), and it remained among the world’s most important oil exporters in the early 21st century. The first commercially important discovery of petroleum on Norway’s continental shelf was made at the Ekofisk field in the North Sea late in 1969, just as foreign oil companies were about to give up after four years of exploratory drilling. Intensified exploration increased reserves faster than production. Nevertheless, by the mid-1990s about half of export earnings and nearly about one-tenth of government revenues came from offshore oil and gas, and these revenues continued to increase as the end of the century approached. It was estimated that the high rate of oil production could be sustained at least . Export earnings from oil and gas continued to climb into the middle of the first decade of the 21st century, when they tapered off somewhat. By the first decade of the 21st century, oil and gas revenue accounted for about one-fifth of overall government revenue. Oil production peaked in 2001 but remained steady into the second decade of the 21st century, while that of natural gas was projected has continued to increase dramatically and be sustained much longersignificantly since 1993.

More than one-fourth of the huge investment made in Norwegian offshore operations by the mid-1990s went toward the development of the Troll field just west of Bergen, one of the largest offshore gas fields ever found. Its development ranked as one of the world’s largest energy projects. With a water displacement of one million tons and a height of nearly 1,550 feet (475 metres), the Troll A production platform was the tallest concrete structure ever moved when it was towed into place in 1995. Gas deliveries from the Troll field made Norway a leading supplier of natural gas to continental Europe.

Hydroelectricity

About half of Norway’s 65,000 largest lakes are situated at elevations of at least 1,650 feet (500 metres); about one-fifth of the country lies 2,950 feet (900 metres) or more above sea level; and predominantly westerly winds create abundant precipitation. As a result, Norway has tremendous hydroelectric potential. It is estimated that almost one-third of that potential is economically exploitable, of which more than three-fifths had been developed by the end of the 20th century. Hydropower stations meet virtually all of Norway’s electrical consumption needs. At the beginning of the 21st century, Norway’s per capita production of electricity is hydroelectricity was the world’s highest, twice that of the United Statesand renewable energy constituted more than three-fifths of the country’s total energy consumption. Deep in the Vestlandet fjords lie many of Norway’s largest smelting plants, constructed there to exploit the great hydroelectric resources of the region.

Electrometallurgy

About one-third A significant portion of the country’s production of electricity is utilized by the its electrometallurgical industry, which is Europe’s largest producer of aluminumand magnesium. Norway was also an important producer of magnesium until the early 21st century, when the country’s inability to compete effectively caused it to withdraw from the world market. In addition to being among the world’s leading exporters of metals, Norway is a significant producer of iron-based alloys. Europe’s largest deposit of ilmenite (titanium ore) is located in southwestern Norway. The country also is among the world’s principal producer producers of olivine and an important supplier of nepheline syenite and dimension stone (particularly larvikite). Pyrites and small amounts of copper and zinc also are mined, and coal is mined on Svalbard.

Manufacturing

Mining and manufacturing (excluding petroleum activities) account for more than between one-third fifth and one-fourth of Norway’s export earnings. Metals and engineering are the two main subgroups, each accounting for about more than one-fifth tenth of nonpetroleum exports. Engineering industry exports doubled in the mid 1990s, the largest increase in 15 years. The level of petroleum-related investment is crucial for the engineering industry, which accounted for about one-third of the manufacturing workforce at the beginning of the 21st century. With the decline of traditional shipbuilding beginning in 1980, the importance of the production of equipment for the petroleum industry increased. Supply ships and semisubmersible drilling platforms are exported worldwide, and the Norwegian-designed Condeep production platforms (such as Troll A) are well suited to the rough seas off Norway’s shores.

In The Østlandet region plays a particularly prominent role in mining and manufacturingthe Østlandet region has more than half of the country’s production value and trade. Stavanger is a leading industrial area in western Norway. Ålesund contains many engineering firms, and the bulk of Norway’s furniture industry is gathered on its rocky coast.

Finance

The Bank of Norway has all the usual functions of a central bank, and it also advises the government on the practical implementation of credit policy. Publicly financed banks give favourable loans to housing, industry, agriculture, and other economic sectors but share the credit market with savings banks, commercial banks, and insurance companies. In 1984 foreign banks were allowed to establish branches in Norway. The country’s financial system includes an active stock market. Norway’s currency is the krone.

As a result of the downturn in the Norwegian economy in the late 1980s, commercial banks experienced a crisis in 1991. Many of the largest became primarily government-owned as new capital was invested by the Government Bank Security Fund; the old shares were declared worthless. Critics argued that the crisis was worsened by new rules requiring that the depreciation of property be counted as a loss, even when the property was not sold. By the mid-1990s, however, the government-rescued banks had returned to profitability, and they were again privatized.

Trade

Foreign trade, in the form of commodities exported chiefly to western Europe or shipping services throughout the world, accounts for nearly half more than two-fifths of Norway’s national income. Norway’s booming petroleum industry has ensured a strong positive balance of payments for the national economy, despite some declines in the manufacturing and agricultural sectors. The great majority of Norway’s petroleum exports go to the nations of the European Union. Other important exports are machinery and transport equipment, metals and metal products, and fish. Norway’s principal trading partners are the United Kingdom (which receives the largest portion of Norwegian exports), Germany, and Sweden (which is the greatest contributor of imports to Norway), and the Netherlands. Principal imports include machinery, motor vehicles, ships, iron and steel, chemicals and chemical products, and food products, especially fruits and vegetables.

Services

The service sector grew by more than 60 percent over the last two decades of the 20th century. Norway receives about three million visitors annually, and is a popular tourist destination, especially for Germans, Swedes, and Danes, and the tourism industry employs more than 5 percent of the workforce. In addition, public-sector employment is high in comparison with most other industrialized countries, with : about onethree-fourth tenths of all workers in Norway are employed in public-sector industries.

Labour and taxation

At the beginning of the 21st century, about three-fourths of actively employed Norwegians worked in services, while about more than one-sixth tenth worked in industry (including manufacturing, mining, and petroleum-related activities). Although the construction sector employed less than one-tenth of the active workforce, its total exceeded that of agriculture and fishing, which constituted a shrinking proportion.

Agriculture and fishing are highly organized and are subsidized by the state. In remote districts, private industry may receive special incentives in the form of loans and grants or tax relief. Direct taxes are high, with sharply progressive income taxes and wealth taxes on personal property. The country also levies a value-added (or consumption) tax of some 20 about 25 percent—among the highest value-added taxes in the world—on Europe—on all economic activity. Total tax revenues are equivalent to about half of the country’s GNP, but much of this represents transfers of income (i.e., it is returned to the private sector in the form of price subsidies, social insurance benefits, and the like). All this has added to economic problems of inflation, but increases in productivity have made possible a high rate of growth in real income. Unemployment generally has been below that of much of western Europe.

The strongly centralized trade unions and employer associations respect one another as well as government guidelines and thus help to control the rapidly expanding economy. The largest and most influential labour union is the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (Landsorganisasjonen i Norge; LO), which was established in 1899 and has more than 800,000 members. Other important labour unions are the Confederation of Vocational Unions (Yrkesorganisasjonenes Sentralforbund; YS) and the Confederation Federation of Academics and Professional Union of NorwayNorwegian Professional Associations (Akademikerne).

From 1945 to 1970 individual income per capita tripled in real terms. Tax rates that progressed upward with income and the greatly increased social security benefits, allocated mainly according to need, contributed to a leveling of incomes. The perennial shortage of labour, especially of skilled workers, had a parallel effect.

Transportation and telecommunications

The elongated shape of Norway and its many mountains, large areas of sparse population, and severe climate make special demands on transportation services. Only the Oslo region has sufficient traffic density to make public surface transportation profitable. A large fleet of vessels links the many fine ports along the sheltered coast. Norway’s largest and busiest ports include those in Bergen, Oslo, Stavanger, Kristiansund, and Trondheim. Norwegian shipowners run one of the world’s largest merchant fleets, carrying about one-tenth of the world’s total tonnage. Of the nearly 1,400 ships that make up the fleet, about two-thirds sail under the Norwegian flag. Shipping accounts for more than half of Norway’s foreign-currency earnings.

In most of Norway, regular overland transportation services are so expensive that the government must provide or subsidize both their establishment and their operation. Bus transport plays a key role in public transportation, aided by some 215 many dozens of scheduled ferry routes. The number of private automobiles in the country has increased rapidly, creating parking problems and traffic jams in the major cities. About two-thirds of the public roads are hard-surfaced. Demand is growing for additional roads and for the comprehensive reconstruction of the many narrow, winding roads. In 2000 the The Lærdal-Aurland tunnel (15.2 miles [24.5 km]) was opened became, when it opened in 2000, the world’s longest road tunnel. Located along the route linking Oslo and Bergen. The world’s longest road tunnel, it provides a reliable connection between the two cities, replacing mountain highways that were impassable during the winter months.

The extensive railway system, more than half of which has been electrified, is operated by the Norwegian State Railways (Norges Statsbaner), which sustains large annual operating deficits. Vestlandet has never had north-south railway connections, only routes running east from Stavanger and Bergen to Oslo and from Åndalsnes to Dombås on the line linking Oslo and Trondheim. The connection from Bodø to Trondheim was completed in 1962. Farther north the only railway is the extension of the Swedish railway system to Narvik, which is used mainly to carry iron ore for export. Of the three other links with Swedish railways, one runs from Trondheim and two from Oslo, the southernmost connecting Norway to the Continent via the Swedish and Danish railways.

Norway is a partner in the Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS), which pioneered commercial flights across the Arctic. Several private airline companies add to the increasing domestic service between Norway’s more than 50 airfields with scheduled civilian traffic. The major airports for international flights are located near Oslo, Stavanger, and Bergen.

The telecommunications sector in Norway has been dominated by Telenor, which was government-owned until its privatization in the late 1990s. Although fairly well developed, this sector lags behind that of other Scandinavian countries. Nonetheless, Norway’s mobile - telephone market is among the most saturated in the world. During the 1990s Internet use grew rapidly, and by in the beginning of the early 21st century about half more than nine-tenths of the population had Internet access.